The following comes from an Aug. 29 posting by Connie Rossini on ContemplativeHomeschool.com.
Last winter on social media, I came across another Catholic author who was promoting yoga. Not as an exercise program, but for spiritual growth. I was shocked. I asked her why she wasn’t promoting prayer instead. She answered, “Meditation is prayer!”
Two months ago, my brother forwarded an email from a colleague, asking about Centering Prayer. A friend was pushing it relentlessly. I looked at the website of the Catholic group that promotes Centering Prayer and found this in the FAQs:
This form of prayer was first practiced and taught by the Desert Fathers of Egypt … the Carmelites St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Therese of Lisieux…
The other day a new reader asked in the comments about meditating on Sacred Scripture. “Is this the same as the method of Father John Main, who has adapted an Eastern mantra method for Christian meditation?”
Uh-uh.
I have written a little on this topic before, but I think it’s time to revisit it. Let’s start with Teresa of Avila.
Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross are doctors of the Church. They are THE experts on Christian prayer. So what method of prayer did Teresa teach? Are you ready to be surprised?
Now that you’ve picked yourself off the floor, let me clarify that a bit. A passage in Teresa’s Foundations does explain briefly how her nuns should practice meditation. But you won’t find a word about this in her classics on prayer Interior Castle or Way of Perfection. Why not? Teresa was not concerned with methods of prayer, but with stages of prayer. She never taught that meditation was a necessary prerequisite to contemplation, let alone the same thing as it.
She had good reasons. In Way of Perfection she mentions a nun who was unable to meditate, but became holy by praying the Our Father slowly and reverently. Teresa herself spent years unable to pray unless she had a book to read, because constant distractions plagued her.
In other words, she knew that everyone was different and that one method of mental prayer would not suit all souls.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here are what others have said:
What we find in Ss. Teresa and John and in Scripture is a very different message… as far as I can find, not a single sentence … speaks of methodology as a means to deep communion with the God of revelation.” (Father Thomas Dubay, Fire Within, 111)
A few paragraphs later Father Dubay says:
While St. Teresa was well acquainted with methods of meditation and wished her young nuns to be instructed in them, she emphatically insisted that the primary need for beginners is not to find the ideal method but to do God’s will from moment to moment throughout the day.”
Pere Marie Eugene, OCD, writes in I Want to See God:
For Saint Teresa, mental prayer–the door of the castle and the way of perfection–is less a particular exercise than the very practice of the spiritual life…” (53 in the combined 2-volume work with I Am a Daughter of the Church)
Here are the words of Teresa herself:
Mental prayer, in my view, is nothing but friendly intercourse, and frequent solitary converse with Him Who we know loves us.” (Way of Perfection)
Shortly after quoting this definition, Pere Marie Eugene explains further:
According to temperaments, the intercourse of friendship will assume an intellectual form, or an affective, or even sensitive one. The child will put its love for Jesus in a kiss, a smile sent to the tabernacle, a caress for the infant Jesus, an expression of sadness before the crucifix. The youth will sing his love for Christ and will encourage its growth by using expressions and images that strike his imagination and his senses, while waiting until his intellect can provide strong thoughts to form a more spiritual and more nourishing prayer.” (55)
Do you see how important this is? If true mental prayer, the necessary preparation for the gift of contemplation, requires an elaborate method, it is elitist. Such a way bars the ignorant, children, and those of certain temperaments or psychological weaknesses from being contemplatives. It bars them from intimacy with Christ. It makes holiness the possession of the few who know enough and who have the right natural gifts. This is not the Gospel!
Children can become saints. Some have. For St. Therese of Lisieux, spiritual childhood was the way to reach the heights of holiness very quickly. And we are supposed to believe that she taught a form of prayer that was reserved for the few?
On the contrary, the essential element is not a method, but the loving friendship between the person praying and God.
St. Therese speaks in a similar way as her patron saint and spiritual mother:
With me prayer is a lifting up of the heart, a look towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and love uttered equally in sorrow and in joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God…. Except for the Divine Office, which in spite of my unworthiness is a daily joy, I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers…. I do as a child who has not learned to read, I just tell our Lord all that I want and he understands.” (Story of a Soul, Ch. 11)
Do you see any indication there of a method we should all follow? In contrast to this, those who want to learn Centering Prayer are encouraged to attend a retreat or workshop or take an online course. But the proponents of Centering Prayer still insist it’s not a technique! It doesn’t take a workshop or a class to learn to speak to God from the heart. Moses spoke to God “as a man speaks to his friend.” That is mental prayer.
Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t practice any method of prayer. Methods help us stay on track. They help us not sit idly in our prayer time. Some methods are better than others. But the key is this: no one method of prayer is required to prepare us for contemplation. And no method at all can make us contemplatives.
Contemplation is the goal. And contemplation is not an altered state of consciousness. It is not peaceful feelings. It is a supernatural gift. It is God drawing the soul to Himself on His own initiative. It is a progressive union with Him.
So, why do I say that meditation is not prayer? Prayer can be practiced in many legitimate ways. One of them is meditation. But not Buddhist/Hindu/yoga meditation. Those have a different goal. They are not prayer at all! Christian meditation always centers on Christ. There are many traditional means of Christian meditation. Here is one example.
Do not look for God in pagan religious practices. The Church gives us all we need and more, without the dangers of dabbling in foreign religions.
As for Father John Main, the criticisms I have read of his method are very similar to criticisms of Centering Prayer. It too originated in pagan religions, trying to make their practices Catholic, and failing. Christ, not a mantra, is the focus of our prayer. Father Main’s organization has been accused of syncretism. He apparently learned his method of “prayer” from a Hindu Swami.
If you want to know what Carmelites mean by contemplation, read the two posts that begin here. God willing, I will speak about prayer further next week.
To read the original posting, click here.
Father Jordan Aumann, O.P., who taught spirituality at the Angelicum in Rome, would have answered, NO, NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO! When I studied under this great theologian, I learned that we are nothing, and that God is all. St. Theresa and St John of the Cross would never have approved or condoned these pagan ideas. Keeping these facts in mind, there is NO place for pagan, new age practices in Catholic spirituality. The modernists enjoy trying to place traditional practices into their heretical beliefs because they themselves have no solid basis for their ridiculous ideas.
You were blessed to have such a teacher, Fr. Karl. I’m currently reading his Spiritual Theology.
I agree Father Karl. God bless you for giving us guidance!
Not to get off the subject but let us pray for Bishop Flores, who has now passed away yesterday. May he rest in peace and be in eternal rest with our Lord. May the prayers we said for him, when he was still with us ill and humble, reach heaven for His salvation. For the Lord is merciful and see’s our love and mercy we had for him when he was ill before our Lord decided to take him home. We give thanks to our Lord for His service when he was alive and now pray for His rest in heaven… RIP Hail Mary…….etc
Sweet, Abeca. It is good to remember our faithful bishops. Requiescat in pace
I agree Dana! That was very sweet of Abeca to let us know about the death of Bishop Flores and to charitably remind us to always pray for souls both while living and deceased. Merciful Jesus, I place my trust in you!
It is heresy and schism to teach New Age. New Age is what many of the LCWR Nuns are practicing and teaching.
(Sisters of Mercy of the Americas (RSM) are deeply into this heresy.)
https://www.traditioninaction.org/History/G_018_Nuns_1.html
Meditation without God is idolatry. It centers completely on perfecting oneself without the help of God. Ultimately thoughts of God are excluded.
We all need to study a Catholic Bible.
Thank you again Father Karl for your faithful example. I also believe that St. Teresa of Avila would have dealt swiftly with these kinds of lying thieves who would dare steal her name in order to sell their own goofy pagan beliefs. Today many of our saints have had their names hijacked in order to further the age old agenda aka, “I Will Not Serve”. It is quite refreshing and extremely encouraging Father Karl to have a faithful Catholic priest deal with the facts so swiftly. God bless you!
This is not difficult to understand, and which we should know that we should stay away from Yoga. There was an excellent episode in EWTN that went over this.
My oldest sister takes Yoga classes for the exercise. I have warned her about avoiding the spiritualist aspects of it, and she assures me that she does. I can only hope and pray that she is faithful to that!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher
You did well by warning her Mr. Fisher. I tell people they can do the stretches but not involve themselves in those prayer rituals of Yoga. The stretches are good for warming up before jogging or any exercise but keep those prayers from that cult away. : )
God bless you.
There are plenty of good stretches without doing yoga.
I don;t know if it is true but some say the postitions are invitations to false gods (demons.)
Try a good physical therapist or Praisemoves or a good book like Stretching by Suzanne Martin.
Yoga is a temptation. I’ve known someone who got into it decades ago and is still into vendanta
Anonymous no its not true, the exercise isn’t only the prayer part opens the doors to evil spirits. Some of the moves are actually stretches but people call it Yoga, I don’t call it Yoga. Before Yoga was even popular, I remember doing some of those stretches in my Ballet classes and also my Jazz classes back in high school years. There was no praying. Praise God! Most of the kids and even my teacher was Catholic or Christian. My teacher never called it yoga. Well it doesn’t matter, I only responded to Mr. Fisher because I know a lot of people are doing yoga now a days and even when we warn them, they don’t listen so I just kindly suggest to them to avoid the meditation part, the prayer parts because it does open doors to evil spirits because Yoga prayer is not coming from a Christian source. I noticed that people listen best when I tell them that then when I use to tell them to avoid it all together.
“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which to look out
Christ’s compassion to the world
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about
doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.”
― Saint Teresa of Ávila
September 15,2014 – Many children are beginning the school year – others on vacation. All children and youth through education share citizenship in the global world. Through education, we build a better future against ignorance, unemployment, illiteracy, disease, the cycle of poverty……..Malala Yousufzai (the 16 year old Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban for defending her right to an education) said,”Let us pick up our books and pens, they are our most powerful weapon.” May we join in worldwide thought, prayer, and blessing for all children and youth – those attending school – those never seeing a classroom. All of us in community join parents as educators of the young. May we see the beauty and goodness of each and help the child and youth reach their full potential as a human being.
Donna,
What you write is basically true as long as we make sure they are not being taught errors!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher
Praise God for His mercy! Praise God for His patience, His love, His courage etc. For we pray for His sanctifying grace. That is our goal here in this life. Meditating on His words. Daily seeking a loving relationship with Christ. Jesus is my beloved. He is the first Father I knew in the beginning of my existence, when I was able to reason, He is my best friend, He is my doctor, my strength, my everything. I wake up in the morning acknowledging His presence, and end the day, reflecting and trusting in His protection as I sleep. My guardian Angel at my side and Virgin Mary too, always asking them to be with my loved ones and I.
I love Him above all. Well at least in my imperfect humanly way, flaws and all. I look forward for His sanctifying grace so I can be complete. For now, I am a soul walking and living this life, enduring and not taking for granted the reasons I am here and grateful knowing that this life is only temporary. For my greatest Joy is to be with God.
Each day we ought to treat it as if it was our last day here on earth. May God help us not forget. JMJ
I think that many Catholics forget, that our holy religion was established by Christ, for the purpose of bringing our souls to Heaven! To be in Heaven, or in a holy state of grace– means that the soul is in union with God— the state which contemplatives ad meditators talk about. We don’t need any silly, secular, or non-Christian “religious gimmicks,” to be close to God, in a pure and holy state of grace, ready for Heaven, Paradise! In our Baltimore Catechism, as well as our newer Catechism– it states that our purpose for being created, is to know, love, and serve God. The goal of the Christian life, is the eventual full indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in our souls, in a state of grace, in Heaven! Christ gives us His Divine Life through the priest, in our Church’s Sacraments, to sanctify our souls, and gradually prepare us for Heaven. There is a lot involved, in the life of the good, practicing Catholic! Whether you are a priest, brother, nun, or lay person— there is a definite, strict way of life, which we are called to live! And it is a life designed to help the soul become pure and close to God! Christ died on His Cross for us, so that we may attain Salvation! The Way is there! We must try to have the selfless love, courage, and strength, to do as Christ says, in deep, trusting faith— daily pick up our Cross, and do the work of being a good, practicing Catholic! The secular, Godless world, does not know Christ, and rejects Him! We should all regularly spend time alone with God, praying and practicing religious devotions. But also, we all should simply sit or kneel quietly alone before the great and holy Presence of God!
Linda Maria, my post last Friday began a series on whether we should sit quietly during prayer. Actually, this is not good advice for the general public. We can begin sitting quietly in God’s presence after we have reached a certain level of prayer, but even then we need to make periodic reflections with our minds. You are probably not a beginner in prayer and find sitting in God’s presence easy. But many beginners read this type of advice and try to start forming a prayer habit by sitting quietly. They can’t do it, so they give up prayer completely. Teresa of Avila speaks to this very specifically. God willing, my post this Friday will discuss what she says.
Sitting quietly (especially before the exposed Holy Eucharist) — and contemplating God – is Heavenly.
Nothing is more peaceful.
CCC: ” 1721 God put us in the world to know,
to love,
and to serve him,
and so to come to paradise. . . . “
Again, not everyone is at a stage of the spiritual life when they can or should try to do that. When you sit quietly before the Eucharist, your mind is probably not a blank the whole time. You are probably at times thinking about Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, about your love for Him, etc. I would guess that “contemplating God” in your words contains some of that. Not until very high stages of infused (supernatural) contemplation can we sit completely quiet for any length of time before having to think about something. That’s the nature of the human mind. I’m certainly not saying that if you can sit quietly, you shouldn’t. In fact, in many cases, if you can you most certainly should. It all depends on where you are at in your prayer life. I just had a reader comment a few days ago that he gave up praying for this very reason–that he couldn’t sit quietly. So out of care for others who may not be as advanced, we should avoid making blanket statements about things like sitting quietly, which are not prerequisites for authentic Christian prayer.
As a Psychologist, Mystical Theologian and Carmelite, I believe that some of the responses about silent prayer, have been overly simplistic and just plain wrong on many counts. To clarify: Both acquired (active/meditative) AND infused (passive) contemplation involve “supernatural” graces. Infused Contemplation and its ultimate goal of complete Mystical Union, however, are RADICALLY different in quality than acquired contemplation, since it is a DIRECT infusion of Divine Essential Light into the soul.
I am vehemently against Centering Prayer and all manner of eastern meditation, etc. However, one needs to be careful NOT to be so sensitive to its evils to forget that the Spirit moves where and when it wills. What could possibly be wrong with ANYONE, even for a “beginner”, for just a short period of time, like the angels in Heaven, sitting or kneeling in awe and in silent, loving adoration of our Creator, our King and our God in the tabernacle? “I look at Him – and He looks at me.”
The goal of ALL prayer and methods are to properly dispose a soul to “hear” the quiet, serene communication and to reach an incomprehensible, loving and essential union with the Divine – in the deepest part of its being. Heaven on earth.
Ms. Rossini: Meditation in the Catholic tradtion is mental prayer, which is indulgenced. It is a dialogue with God. Centering prayer is not contemplation or meditation. “Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.
Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.
The source of Centering Prayer, as in all methods leading to contemplative prayer, is the Indwelling Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The focus of Centering Prayer is the deepening of our relationship with the living Christ. The effects of Centering Prayer are ecclesial, as the prayer tends to build communities of faith and bond the members together in mutual friendship and love.”
I think you are confusing it with Eastern meditation. It is not that at all. It is taught in conjunction with Lectio Divina. It reminds me more of this:
https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=1404
I would like to recommend this book on mental prayer to you.
https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Mental-Prayer-Joseph-Simler/dp/0895552566
” Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.” — St. Teresa of Avila
“Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” – St. Theresa of Avila.
” Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart.
You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart.
In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart. ” St. Padre Pio.
I don’t know if this is related, but I was taught by a prayer warrior when I was a protestant, and we always began with praise, usually psalms and other Bible verses or focused on a specific theme related to God, such as His mercy,(my friend would put a whole chapter to music and it was so easy to memorize by singing) then silence…waiting and listening for God’s presence, followed by confession and asking God to reveal hidden sins, then prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving for ways we’ve been helped or seen God’s goodness in others, followed by singing a hymn then meditation on a specific theme such as choosing one Bible verse and really ponder it and ask questions as to its meaning…have a notebook handy. Intercessory prayer then comes towards the last where we pray for the concerns of our families, the world, etc. then we ended the prayer time with praise and gratitude, telling God how much we love Him. It usually took about an hour altogether. I found I had a far more powerful prayer life if I followed a simple format like that than just start meditating…too often it’s too easy to use prayer as a device for our own selfish ends, or just when we’re in need. If we simply start with saying the rosary before we meditate helps overcome inertia. I agree that it is so hard sometimes to concentrate and keep from being distracted!! For me personally, singing a really beautiful hymn seems to be the best way to focus on God. I often sing Adoration…usually Tantum Ergo (which I really love but do not sing well, alas) I remember Mother Angelica saying she would picture all the mysteries of the rosary as she prayed so it became more real.
Sorry, but my post was edited! I said, at the end, that if a good, sincere, practicing Catholic makes a habit of sitting or kneeling quietly before God in recollection and prayer, listening to God— over time, God will come and lead the sincere Catholic, Himself! The point is– our religion is correct, and it is true, that Christ, the Bridegroom, will come for His Bride, for whom He gave His very life! Many saints, and many common people also, have sought and found God, over the centuries, following their Catholic Faith! Practices of prayer, recollection, and meditation, or contemplation, have always been a part of the total practice of the Faith. Also, these seekers of God, sought God on His own terms– not theirs! Have you ever heard of worldly, secular meditators, doing that? Or humbly telling God, in the Sacrament of Penance, they are sorry for their sins, desire to improve their lives, and even making a total change of life? Worldly, secular meditators, seeking things for themselves, only, (such as pleasant feelings and experiences, etc.)— will never truly find God! They are dedicated to themselves, and their self-interests, not God! God will give the sincere, practicing Catholic, all that is needed, for Heaven!
I have to thank all the comments in this thread so far whether teaching, prayers or reflections by Fr. Karl, Louis, Abeca Christian, Dana, Linda Maria, Donna Noble Gibson, Lucy,Connie Rossini and Anne. May God reward you with Grace for showing witness to the Faith.
May Our Lady lead you ever closer to Her Son,
Gerard
Thank you gentle soul. May God bless you for your kindness.
Thank you Kindly Gerard. All for His glory. Keep us in your prayers please. God bless you too.
I know of some very good Catholics, who do not like to sit quietly for long periods of time, in prayer, or meditation, with God. Instead, their natural inclination, is to negate the “selfish” part of oneself, preparing for Christ to come and live in their souls— by doing big or little acts of love daily, for others, for Christ! Thus, by this path of self-negation, they are coming close to Christ– “it is not I who live, but Christ, Who lives in me!” as St. Paul says. These people too, have found the Lord! They live for Him! They, too, arrive at Heaven, living for Christ alone! This is what happens, to all good Catholics who seek
God, in a great deal of meditation, prayer, and recollection! Christ cultivates the Divine Life of Christ, Himself— in the soul! We are on the pathway to Heaven!
Linda Marie, this was your best post yet! Thank you for your insights and genuine caring!
Linda Marie said: “We should all regularly spend time alone with God, praying and practicing religious devotions. But also, we all should simply sit or kneel quietly alone before the great and holy Presence of God!”
“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.” Psalms 46:10
Connie Rossini said: “So out of care for others who may not be as advanced, we should avoid making blanket statements about things like sitting quietly, which are not prerequisites for authentic Christian prayer.”
Really?
Brother Gabriel, I appreciate your comments, but I don’t believe you understand what I am saying. Didn’t Teresa of Avila say that you shouldn’t go to prayer and sit there and do nothing like a “dolt?” Doesn’t she say that we should not force ourselves to stop thinking before God leads us to that stage? Haven’t you ever met someone who gave up prayer because he was instructed just to sit silently and say nothing and he couldn’t do it? (As I said above, someone mentioned this on my blog just this past weekend.) Isn’t acquired recollection an outgrowth of discursive meditation and affective prayer, as Fr. Jordan Aumann says in his mystical theology? Perhaps I shouldn’t have said “sitting quietly” as that can be construed as going into a quiet room, removing exterior distractions, etc. I meant “sitting quietly” in the sense of not saying anything or making any acts of the will, but just sitting in God’s presence. My understanding is that this is acquired after practice at prayer and growth in virtue. But you’re right that I was probably overreacting to what Linda Marie said, because this subject has been on my mind the last several days.
Connie, actually I do understand what you are saying and that is why I felt compelled to react to your overreaction to Linda Marie’s comments. Let me explain. Yes, if it means just advising someone to go into a room alone and sit with the express purpose of meditating on NOTHING in a pantheistic manner (eastern) or on ones navel for hours on end and that this is the meaning of “Centering Prayer”, then I think everyone would agree that this is not the basis of Christian prayer and an utter waste of time. However, speaking especially of beginners, it is HIGHLY recommended, and is in the solid tradition of spiritual theology, that to prepare for a time of prayer, for those who have not progressed to an experience of a continual and consistent practice of the Presence of God, it is vital that like Martha, after being busy and scattered with many things, it is necessary to re-collect ones thoughts, to willfully silence the imagination and calm the senses, in order to be properly disposed, to be wholly and completely“present” to Christ, like Mary, before beginning prayer. With the help of grace and with the ascent of the will, the beginner seeks, through this then quiet, reflective disposition to communicate with God, offering its vocal, affective, mental prayer, to meditate or do Lectio Divina. In the spiritual life, this is called to recollect or to be recollected. Of course, infused contemplation is another story…
Connie, what may be best for you, is not necessarily best for all others.
I love sitting quietly before the Blessed Sacrament – just me and my Lord.
” For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” – Ps 62.
” For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. Ps 62:5
Actually, that’s exactly what I was saying. I often sit in quiet but I know others who can’t. And I wouldn’t want them to feel that therefore they cannot pray.
In 1971, I agreed reluctantly, to attend some Charismatic Masses. I thought this kind of “spirituality” to be an embarrassing, silly, Vatican II-style, “three- ring -circus,” not true spirituality! Nevertheless, I went, with friends. During Mass, some parishioners– including great big football and basketball players!— started to fall uncontrollably, into a deep, unconscious trance, “slayed in the Spirit,” as I was told. After the Mass, Charismatic Healings were held– and they tried to do one on me! Like all the others– I , too, felt a “power” come over me, lost control, fell into the trance, and my body and mind were completely suspended, for a long time! When I “came to,” I did not really see this experience as truly “spiritual,” rather only as an unexplainable experience, maybe from God. Did this “healing” make me a better person, a better follower of Christ? Silly! Same thing, with mystical meditation experiences, even those of great saints! Better to just seek daily, to be an ordinary, good Catholic, and to “give all,” for Christ, always, no matter what the cost!
Do not look for God in pagan practices? And yet is St. Francis Catholic High School in Watsonville, CA. doing that very thing, by requiring all students to read ‘The Fear Project’ by Jaimal Yogis this past Summer, and having him speak to the students and parents on Sept. 9th.?
https://www.stfrancishigh.net/apps/events/2014/9/9/1738001/?REC_ID=1738001&id=0
A quote from Mr. Jaimal:
As my courses went on and I became a religion major, I realized that I’d basically been robbed. Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, they were all packed with wisdom and beauty and grace. Granted, they were also products of their time and included all sorts of oddities and backward beliefs (many of which, I believe, should be updated). But if you could look past the cultural context and see what these mystics and poets were pointing to, it was the good stuff in life, the stuff that makes us happy, healthy and wise…I still don’t consider myself a religious person. I have no firm belief in the afterlife or god or who the prophet is. I have no clue. My day-to-day decisions of what to eat and wear and how to raise my son are based more on what I read in scientific studies. My friends are mostly guys I surf with. But I still sit quietly everyday, and that nameless faith — that ocean of compassion — seems to always be there. And having learned about religions in their cultural context, I also feel lucky to be able to draw from the words of the saints and sages of all faiths, along with science and philosophy.
Source:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jaimal-yogis/faith-for-the-faithless_b_2238556.html
YGP,
SYNCRETISM, PLAIN AND SIMPLE!
Is St. Francis High School in Watsonville, CA Catholic?
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher
All of the people I know who go to yoga class a couple of times a year are a bit long in the tooth and enjoy the stretching involved. They have never mentioned yoga as a “religion” or way of life. Its about stretching and keeping limber.
You need to read Yoga sites on the internet.
Yoga is a religion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
People can stretch at home.
Bob one its because not everyone understands that it stems from a cult, a none Judeo Christian source. The stretching is fine but often they do ask people to meditate and unsuspecting persons, who do not know, are asked to meditate on themselves and pray. It can be deceiving. I don’t know if you can pull the info on EWTN, it expresses it better than trying to give you a long post here. Whether you believe it or not, it does open the doors to a dark spiritual world.
Well enuff said…stretches are fine, they help give a person good posture and can help loosen muscles that are stiff due to stress but keep away from the prayer part. Its not Catholic. God bless.
Abeca, my understanding is that even if you avoid “the prayer part”, the poses (called asanas) in yoga are considered a prayer in and of themselves. So practicing the asanas alone, even without the meditation, can open one up to the dark spirit world. I learned this from a former Hindu, who is now Catholic. He said that those who think one can practice Yoga for its health benefits alone are deceiving themselves and putting their souls in danger.
A couple of years ago there was a woman who was going to Catholic parishes teaching the Stations of the Cross in Yoga. Talk about demonic.
Thanks Tracy, good to know. I honestly didn’t know that. The asanas? Well something new we all can learn. Goes to show you I don’t understand it because its something I choose to avoid. Stretches I do with my workouts but anything weird reminding me of Yoga, I remove myself. I don’t even know what asanas is? What is that, certain positions? Thank you I will have to learn some more, so I can correct any misunderstanding on my part and share better about this. I really appreciate your charity. God bless you always. = )
I have to go back and look up what I watched in EWTN, if I can find that same info. Sometimes I watch those programs and try to remember everything but I guess I miss those important points. You are a good and kind soul to me Tracy. Thank you